I've just got back from India a few weeks ago and picked up my P1 from a Scooby garage in the East Midlands (won't say which one).

I'm not happy though.

Wonder if any P1 owners can shed any light on the following :

1. Clutch seems jerky in 1st gear. Its not like I started driving yesterday, but I've had very few "clean" getaways so far - more like a stutter.

2. Brakes - maybe they are just cr*p but I think the brakes on this car are pretty shocking for what the car is. is that the nor?

3. Knocking noise - At idle I can hear like a knocking noise - its like a belt of some kind is loose.

As I got it from a Scooby dealer I didn't bother having it checked over.

Well hacked off at the moment.

Ash

Hi Ash,

Ok here goes....

1. My P1 hates being in first gear, if you crawling in traffic its like a kangaroo especially when cold some might say it the driver !!!!
2. Have you got the standard brakes?? I found the standard brakes good but not brilliant, save some dosh and go for an upgrade I went for the prodrive Alcon which caused me some problems with dust etc but they stop the car great.
3. The knocking noise I would get checked ASAP I had a strange knocking noise and when it was investigated it was found the timing belt had become damaged by an anti-slap pulley or something (thats the Dutch Garage explanation) I have the old belt and sure glad I took it in it was quite badly damaged.

Apart from that 14 months down the line I still have a grin on my face dont listen to all the knockers most I would say are jealous.

ENJOY

Dave

Hi guys

Have the same problem in 1st...I also have a bit of a stutter in second when I uplift to third...Maybe its that Im not used to the car yet...

I also agree with you that the brakes arent all that great for a car of this speed ... Stomp and Stop I guess until I can get some more...

What do you suggest for the stutter...IS it just me???

Cheers

Den

there is a member of this bbs who will gladly spend all day talking about P1 problems;)

where is Mr Bird?:D

Is SPUDGUN really as daft as his signature???

Who Knows....Guess its just jealousy....;)

On behalf of steve_f.....coz he's gone to the pub! :D

1,Never had any problems with the clutch on his car...apparently a dodgy clutch is a common fault on British Scoobys (accoring to SIDC)


2,The standard Brakes are OK...but a prodrive upgrade is better ;)


3, Not a clue about the noise, sounds like you should get it looked at, just to be safe.

Hope u get it sorted mate!

t_m & steve_f (and mum...who drives our P1..and wont have a word said against 'em) :D :D :D

On the upshift through the box be gentle with the throttle and press on it not stamp on it. Sounds strange but they acelerate better, just try it, and you will be surprised ;). The smoother you are the better the cars goes.

Noise wise no idea, get it checked and brakes yep they arent the best but that can be fixed with a upgrade if required.

cheers

chris

Ash,

1. No probs pulling away on mine.

2. I have a serious problem with my brakes driving in central London, as the car happily pulls away hard but sometimes the ABS will cut in for no reason i.e. not harsh braking/bad road conditions etc, but suffice to say the standard brakes are not good enough for the momentum of the car if you have to swap between accelerating hard in 2nd and stopping. Bemuses me why Prodrive didn't up the spec on these, as they are the same as standard form the UK STD turbo, but get punished a lot harder.

3. No noise from mine as yet, although a noisy back box does tend to drown all else out so it may be there.

Persevere, as the car is certainly a wonderful machine for weekend smiles....

Adi

dennisi
erm, what have i got to be jealous about? sure, my post was only meant to be lighthearted, but tinged with jealousy it wasnt;)

why would i be jealous of an overpriced sti?:rolleyes:

sorry you seem to have taken such offence.

I have the same problems with 1st on my Sti, I thought it was either a dodgy clutch or my crap driving ;) Mine has done about 43k and I thought that was a bit early for the clutch to start going?? Mind you Ive only had the car for about 3 months.

Perhaps its my crap driving...No offence taken!!!;)

Thanks for the responses.

Find it appalling that a car that can do 0-60 in 4.6 seconds has sh*t brakes. It sounds like the R&D boys at Subaru put all their resources into a mean engine and said 'nah, the brakes are fine'. Always brings me back to what Porsche did with the 911, instead of focusing on the 0-60 they concentrated on how quick the car could stop from 60-0, that was one of their marketing policies. Still, I'll have to think about the upgrade as I was almost half way across a junction the other day before the car came to a stop - scary f'ing moment that was I tell yer.

Not sure about that clutch and noise - I'm thinking of having an independent inspection on the whole car now as I perhaps have put too much trust in the dealership. I never had these problems on the McRae I had.

Apart from these little 'niggles' I am happy with the car's performance. I'm off to Liverpool and Birmingham over the next few days so I'll get a chance to check it out.

Right here go`s.....................;)

Wondered how long you could resist Arron

Why supply decent brakes when most punters will pay extra for the upgrade?

Strange how for £25k you can now get an STI7 with decent Brembos and a 6 speed box. I thought £31k for P1 was a complete rip off at the time and the new model just proves that.

I'd still prefer a P1 to an STI7 though.

Well that knocking noise is getting louder - just driven from Leeds to Liverpool today and left it at idle, it was making a hell of a noise. It was embarrasing as I pulled into the car park. Arranged for the car to go to the dealer on Wed now for look at the clutch, brakes and noises. We'll see where we go from here - may have to leave it with them whilst they sort the problems out. That means I will probably get the loan justy for couple of days - doh !

It would be worth checking the oil level re. the knocking noise. If the oil gets a bit low the hydraulic tappets can get a bit noisy. (Well on my MY95 anyway ;) - sort of like an audible service indicator)

Ash - about the knocking noise.
If it's a deep, almost hollow knock, most noticeable when everything is really hot, i.e. at the end of a long drive, then it sounds like the noise I had on mine: really embarrassing when parking, sounded as if the car had a 1cyl Lister diesel underneath!
The noise was loudest at idle, and when listening from the driver's seat by opening the door or standing alongside. It was nowhere near so noticeable if I lifted the bonnet and listened, so I was pretty sure it wasn't engine-related.
I noticed it get louder, coincidentally, after I'd had a P1 backbox fitted, and I wondered if it could be exhaust resonance when really hot. Anyway, my dealer changed the centre pipe under warranty and - eureka!- problem solved, no noise!
Just a thought, maybe worth a try.

Steve.

Just on the brakes - to improve the feel, just change the hoses for some decent mesh ones, get some good fluid in her and things will get better - next step is some good pads, then some good discs.

If that does not get you where you want to be, the big change out kits are the way to go, but give the above mods a shot - they really do help and are cheaper than doing the lot.

Cheers :D

I've checked the oil levels in the car and it appears to be fine. Ta for the tips on the brakes. Its off to the dealer tommorrow for assessment. I'm not overjoyed, I was away in India for 5 weeks on holiday and I come back to a car that I have to give back after a couple of weeks. Won't even go on about the dosh I've forked out for it. Almost wish I'd gone for that 330 sport after all. Sorry - just a little cheesed off at the moment, more than pleased with the car's performance, just didn't anticipate any problems like this.

Just as a side point - what do you guys get from a full tank around town ? motorway ?

Fuel per tank!!!!!

On Track 78 miles per tank is best/worse i've had.
Normal driving around 240 miles per tank.

Have the following problems
1 Passenger door light switch not working
2 exhaust knocking
3 clutch pedal (not plate as in problem with my previous scoob) makes a creaking sound and feel when feathering.
4 Brakes are cr@p (yup std but not for long)

Regarding your clutch
Get this replaced under warranty
but do not
Let them drive the car without you. The garage might try a drop clutch standing start to clean the clutch plate(temp measure).
I beleive the flywheel had to be replaced on my MY00 as well as the clutch itself.
My garage tried to fob me of loads of times. Make sure you get this sorted under warranty.
Matthew

Nice one GTB, I'm gonna suggest that tomorrow. Its not me being paranoid as I've had the car a couple of weeks now and it definately stutters. No matter how many times I try its playing up. Its on my mind a bit, and its f'ing annoying when it happens. Should be slick and quick gear change, instead I get a judder when I change from 1st to 2nd and from 2nd to 3rd.

No probs on mine at the moment touch wood bar a rattling cigarette lighter. Had a brand new bug eye WRX while the P1 was in for service for the day the other day and it had a rattling on the centre section of the exhaust.

Ash1 good luck getting the probs fixed.

Okay, bad news and good news I guess. The guys at Subaru were very good I must admit, they were totally professional about my problems and totally unbiased.

Firstly the clutch - as I said previously the judder when I changed gear. Well it looks like a new clutch is required after all. I felt it was also very difficult to engage both 1st and 2nd gear. The chap at Subaru drove it for a while and agreed that the gear changing was not very slick at all and it was jumping.

Secondly - the knocking noise. Well when I got to the garage and showed the chap it didn't make that much of a rattle - sods law that isn't it ? Fortunately they took it into the service area and found a problem with the catalytic converter - it needs replacing as the noise is from within the converter itself.

Thirdly - brakes. Again agreement reached that the brakes on this car seemed very poor. Apparently the brakes come off the std impreza (4 pot ones I believe) which are supposed to be 'decent'. but the brakes on mine appear to be a lot worse than that. So they have agreed to strip them down and see where the issues lie and sort that out too. They also mentioned upgrading the brakes, but only suggested that after they've looked at them first.

All this under warrantly - like I was going to pay for it anyway !
Bad news is that I'm disappointed that these problems have come to light now when I've only had the car 2 weeks ! I was away in India for 5 weeks and that was more than enough time to prepare the car for me. Now I will have to hand it over for 2-3 days whilst they sort everything out. I'd question why such faults were not detected and corrected before I received the car - how can a clutch be knacked after only 7000 miles ? How come they didn't know about the brakes - there are times when you do need to brake hard and I was having to think too much about stopping distances, coming out of a roundabout to the next I was accelerating and also thinking about when I should brake for the next roundabout only a mile away. Sod that.

I'm hoping that this is not the start of one of those car horror stories we all read about.

Anyway, I'm much happier now that we've identified the problems, and it wasn't me going paranoid about my driving ability (although I must admit I pulled off a stunt today when I got pissed off sitting behind a motoring school driver - it was the owner of the vehicle and not an actual customer - looking back I shouldn't have done that).

So I'm going to see if the dealer will lend me a new Impreza WRX whilst mine is being sorted out.

Let you know what its like once all work is done.

Adios for now.

Best of luck m8 - but get the brake hoses and fluid upgraded, better if you go for better pads at the same time - you won't regret it.

Eitherway, hope the car gets well sorted :D

After observing my mate driving his p1, from brand new, i can see how the clutch would go in 7K.. Reving it to 8grand and dumping the clutch at most islands!!!

Pete

Thought I would drop a quick note to give an update on my P1 problems :

1. Clutch - replaced and feels so smooth now. No more jumping or stuttering. Thank god for that - not my driving after all !

2. Brakes - new front discs and pads. Loads better, car actually stops now and not overshooting junctions !

3. Cat - replaced and gone is the knocking noise.

Had a return from Leeds to Birmingham and it feels great now.

Hopefully thats the end of my problems.

One thing - does anyone find the rear spoiler a problem on the motorway i.e. visibility ?. Maybe the way round it is to not look in the rear view mirror - just look forward ?

I could have warned you mate.